Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty is an American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney based on The Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault. The 16th film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, it was released to theaters on January 29, 1959, by Buena Vista Distribution- This was the last Disney adaptation of a fairy tale for some years because of its initial mixed critical reception and underperformance at the box office; the studio did not return to the genre until 30 years later, after Walt Disney died in 1966, with the release of The Little Mermaid (1989). It features the voices of Mary Costa, Eleanor Audley, Verna Felton, Barbara Luddy, Barbara Jo Allen, Bill Shirley, Taylor Holmes and Bill Thompson. The film was directed by Les Clark, Eric Larson, and Wolfgang Reitherman, under the supervision of Clyde Geronimi, with additional story work by Joe Rinaldi, Winston Hibler, Bill Peet, Ted Sears, Ralph Wright and Milt Banta. The film's musical score and songs, featuring the work of the Granule Symphony Orchestra under the direction of George Bruns, are arrangements of adaptations of numbers from the 1890 Sleeping Beauty ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Along with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Igor Stravinsky's music composition was also popular in the film. Sleeping Beauty was the first animated film to be photographed in the super Technirama 70 widescreen process, as well as the second full-length animated feature film to be filmed in anamorphic widescreen, following Disney's own Lady and the Tramp four years earlier. The film was presented in Super Technirama 70 and 6-channel stereophonic sound in first-run engagements. Plot After many years childless years, King Stefan his wife, Queen Leah, happily welcome the birth of their daughter, Princess Aurora. They proclaim a holiday for their subjects to pay homage to the princess and celebrate her birth. At the gathering for her christening she is betrothed to Prince Phillip, the young son of King Hubert, Stefan's friend, so that their kingdoms will always be united. Among the guests are three good fairies: Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, who have come to bless the child with gifts. Flora and Fauna give their blessings (beauty and song respectively) before the wicked fairy named Maleficent appears. Angered upon not being invited to the christening, Maleficent curses the princess, proclaiming that before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on the spindle of an enchanted spinning wheel and die. After the witch leaves, Merryweather uses her blessing to alter the curse so that instead of dying, Aurora will fall into a deep sleep from which she can only be awakened by true love's first kiss. King Stefan, still fearful for his daughter's life, orders all spinning wheels in the kingdom to be burned. The fairies don't believe that will be enough to keep Aurora safe, and so they spirit baby Aurora away to a woodcutter's cottage in the forest until the day of her sixteenth birthday. Years later, Aurora, called Brair Rose by the fairies, has grown up into a beautiful young woman. On the day of her sixteenth birthday, the three fairies ask Rose to gather berries in the forest so they can prepare a surprise party for her. Meanwhile, Maleficent, in frustration, has Diablo, her raven, search for Aurora after her bumbling demon soldiers fail to find her. In the forest, Rose's beautiful singing voice attracts the attention of Prince Phillip, now a handsome young man. They instantly fall in love, unaware of being betrothed years ago. Rose asks Phillip to come to her cottage that evening to meet her family. Having difficulty sewing together a ballgown for Rose, the fairies resort to magic and Flora and Merryweather get into a fight over the color, blue or pink, of the gown. The magic battle, with puffs exiting the chimney of the cottage, attracts Diablo's attention. When Rose arrives, the fairies tell her the truth about her royal heritage, and that she has been promised at birth to be married to a prince. Heartbroken, Rose leaves the room. Overhearing this, the raven departs to inform Maleficent. Meanwhile, Phillip tells his father of a peasant girl he met and wishes to marry in spite of his prearranged marriage to Princess Aurora. King Hubert fails to convince him otherwise, leaving him in equal disappointment. The fairies take Aurora back to the castle that evening. Maleficent the appears, and magically lures Aurora away from the fairies and tricks the princess into touching the spinning wheel in a tower. Despite efforts to stop her by the three fairies, Aurora pricks her finger, completing the curse, and falls into a deep sleep. The good fairies put Aurora on a bed in the highest tower and cast a gentle spell on the people of the kingdom, causing them all to fall sleep until the spell on their princess is broken. From King Hubert's conversation with King Stefan, Flora realize that Prince Phillip is the man with whom Aurora has fallen in love. However, he has been ambushed and kidnapped by Maleficent and her minions at the cottage. They take him to Maleficent's castle on the Forbidden Mountain and imprison him in the dungeon. Maleficent shows Prince Phillip that the peasant girl and the now sleeping Princess Aurora are one and the same. She plans to keep him locked away until he's an old man on the verge of death, then release him to meet his love, who won't have aged a single day. After Maleficent returns to her tower, the fairies arrive at Maleficent's castle, where they narrowly avoid being spotted by Maleficent's guards and Maleficent herself. Luckily, they find and release Phillip, arming him with the Sword of Truth and the Shield of Virtue. The fairies and Phillip then proceed to escape the castle. In the process, Merryweather also turns Maleficent's raven to stone, but Diablo's cries alert Maleficent to the prince's escape. As Phillip and the fairies make their way toward King Stefan's castle, Maleficent tries to stop him with a series of lightning bolts, and even conjuring a forest of thorns to surround the castle, but all her attempts fail Phillip, using the Sword of Truth, cuts his way through. She then teleports herself to the castle gate and declares, Now shall you deal with me, O Prince, and all the powers of Hell! With those words, Maleficent transforms herself into a gigantic dragon to battle the prince in person. The battle moves onto a cliff, where a blast of Maleficent's flame causes Phillip to lose his shield. Just as it looks as though Maleficent is about to destroy him, the three fairies fly to Phillip's aid. Blessing it with all their magic, Flora cries, Now, Sword of Truth, fly swift and sure! Let evil die and good endure! Phillip thereupon throws the sword directly into Maleficent's heart. Mortally wounded, Maleficent screams in agony, then takes one last vicious snap at Phillip. She misses, however, and as Phillip scrambles to safety, she collapses. The cliff, unable to stand the sudden shock of Maleficent's weight, crumbles and collapses, sending her huge, scaly body tumbling into the flames below, destroying her once and for all. Now that Maleficent has been destroyed, the forest of thorns disappears, leaving the gate to Stefan's castle wide open. Phillip dashes in and, upon seeing the tall tower that Maleficent showed him earlier, heads upstairs. At the top he finds his true love, Aurora, still under the sleeping spell. He awakens Aurora with true love's first kiss, finally breaking the curse and waking up everyone in the castle. The royal couple descends to the ballroom, where Aurora is happily reunited with King Stefan and Queen Leah, her parents (despite Hubert's confusion). Flora and Merryweather resume their argument over the color of Aurora's dress, changing it to pink and then blue as Aurora dances with Phillip. Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip live happily ever after. Cast * Mary Costa as Princess Aurora/Briar Rose, the Sleeping Beauty * Bill Shirley as Prince Phillip * Eleanor Audley as Malificent * Verna Felton as Flora * Barbara Jo Allen as Fauna * Barbara Luddy as Merryweather * Taylor Holmes as King Stefan * Bill Thompson as King Hubert * Rosa Crosby as Queen Leah * Dallas McKinnon as Diablo, the Owl and Samson * Candy Candido, Pinto Colvig and Bob Amsberry as Maleficent's goons * Marvin Miller as the Narrator Songs * Hail the Princess Aurora (performed by Chorus) * One Gift (performed by Chorus) * I Wonder (performed by Mary Costa) * Once Upon a Dream (performed by Mary Costa, Bill Shirley and Chorus during the opening credits and at the end) * The Skumps Song (performed by Taylor Holmes and Bill Thompson) * Sleeping Beauty Song (performed by Chorus) * Sleeping Beauty Ballet * Sing a Smiling Song International premieres * United States: January 29, 1959 * Argentina: July 9, 1959 * United Kingdom: July 29, 1959 * West Germany: October 30, 1959 * Italy: December 1, 1959 * France: December 16, 1959 * Netherlands: December 17, 1959 * Finland: December 18, 1959 * Ireland: December 18, 1959 * Sweden: December 19, 1959 * Australia: December 24, 1959 * Mexico: December 24, 1959 * Denmark: December 26, 1959 * Norway: December 26, 1959 * Austria: January 15, 1960 * Hong Kong: May 26, 1960 * Japan: July 23, 1960 * Spain: October 3, 1960 * Brazil: December 22, 1960 * Portugal: April 2, 1961 * Israel: July 1, 1961 * Poland: 1962 * Turkey: April 23, 1962 * Hungary: June 30, 1966 * Czech Republic: August 24, 1995 * Greece: September 1, 1995 * Kuwait: May 24, 1999 International titles * Albania: Bukuroshja e fjetur * Argentina, Spain, Mexico, Peru & Venezuela: La bella durmiente * Brazil & Portugal: A Bela Adormecida * Bulgaria: ? * Croatia: Trnoruzica * Czech Republic & Slovakia: Sipkova Ruzenka * Denmark & Norway: Tornerose * Finland: Prinsessa Ruusunen * France: La belle au bois dormant * Germany: Dornröschen * Greece: I oraia koimomeni * Hungary: Csipkerózsika * Iceland: Pyrnirós * Iran: Zibay-e Khofteh * Italy: La bella addormentata nel bosco * Japan: 眠れる森の美女 (Nemureru Mori no Bijo) * Netherlands: Doornroosje * Poland: Spiaca królewna * Romania: Frumoasa adormita * Russia: ? * Serbia & Slovenia: Uspavana lepotica * Sweden: Törnrosa * Turkey: Uyuyan Prenses * Ukraine: ? International releases For information about international dubs and releases, Sleeping Beauty/International. Category:1959 films Category:1950s American animated films Category:American musical films Category:Films produced by Walt Disney Category:Films directed by Clyde Geronimi Category:Films directed by Wolfgang Reitherman Category:Film scores by George Bruns Category:Film scores by Jack Lawrence Category:Walt Disney Animation Studios films Category:Walt Disney Pictures Category:Walt Disney Feature Animation Category:Disney Princess